If you have ever spent a pleasant evening reading a little Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer, you may love some of the recent novels digitized by the University of Illinois. There is currently a project underway to produce digital copies of the library's complete holding of Victorian triple-decker novels, works that were issued in multiple volumes so that the proceeds from one volume could fund the subsequent one.
Works digitized so far can be found on the Internet Archive in the 19th Century Novels collection.
A particularly charming example, although only totaling two volumes, is Emily Eden's The Semi-Attached Couple (vols. 1 and 2). With a mother to rival Mrs. Bennett in amusement value, explicit references to Austen's novels, and the romantic fortunes of not one, but three couples decided by the end of volume two, the work can more than hold its own with any example of modern chick lit.
Anyone looking for light reading for their commute, or a deeper insight into women writers of the Victorian era will find a treasure-trove here.
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